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7 years to build towers… now 7 to demolish them!
 
The eight high-rise towers dominate the skyline in north Glasgow
The eight high-rise towers dominate the skyline in north Glasgow
 
<b>Demolitions planned in coming years</b><p>The Glasgow Housing Association plans to demolish a number of Glasgow's high-rise flats over the coming years.<br>Within the coming year there are plans to dynamite the notorious Stirlingfaulds flats in Laurieston. <br>Last year the Evening Times revealed £350million is to be ploughed into the Gorbals with new schemes at Hutchesontown and Laurieston.<br>As well as the controlled demolition of the two towers at Stirlingfauld Court, the tower blocks at Norfolk Court will also come down.<br>In all the scheme could take up to 15 years to complete but there are hopes the work will transform Bridge Street and Eglinton Street into a thriving area attracting businesses and young professionals.
Demolitions planned in coming years

The Glasgow Housing Association plans to demolish a number of Glasgow's high-rise flats over the coming years.
Within the coming year there are plans to dynamite the notorious Stirlingfaulds flats in Laurieston.
Last year the Evening Times revealed £350million is to be ploughed into the Gorbals with new schemes at Hutchesontown and Laurieston.
As well as the controlled demolition of the two towers at Stirlingfauld Court, the tower blocks at Norfolk Court will also come down.
In all the scheme could take up to 15 years to complete but there are hopes the work will transform Bridge Street and Eglinton Street into a thriving area attracting businesses and young professionals.

 

By Chris Irvine

GLASGOW'S Red Road Flats will take seven years to demolish the same time it took to build them more than 40 years ago.

The eight skyscrapers in Balornock were hailed as the high-rise solution to housing problems of Scotland's largest city.

Now the flats in the north of the city are earmarked to come down as part of a housing revolution which will see nearly 3000 new-build homes for social rent.

Today a Glasgow Housing Association spokeswoman revealed that, due to the building design and the presence of asbestos in the flats, they will have to be dismantled brick by brick.

The Red Road tower blocks, unlike any other similar construction at the time in Glasgow, were built with a steel framework and asbestos insulation.

The spokeswoman said: "All eight buildings have now been earmarked for demolition.

"Due to their type of construction it is likely that the buildings will need to be manually de-constructed.

"Demolition will likely take up to seven years."

This means they will take as long to demolish as it did to build them in the 1960s.

It is expected the demolition will probably begin in around two years with the contract for the work soon coming up for grabs.

GHA stressed any asbestos in the buildings was not a threat to those living there.

The Evening Times revealed this week how work is under way to build 239 homes at Rye Road and Avonspark Street almost in the shadows of the imposing towers.

Families will be selected for the new homes and move in this October.

The homes are part of a £300million project to replace some of the city's crumbling housing a pledge made by the GHA when it took over the city's council homes in 2003.

They announced in March 2005 they would demolish the Red Road skyscrapers.

Two of the blocks are currently part of GHA's active clearance programme. One is completely cleared while the other has 35 tenants.

One of the other blocks is leased by the YMCA as a hostel for asylum seekers and students.

Letting has stopped at two blocks, 10 Red Road Court and 21 Birnie Court, though clearance of the 300 GHA tenants has yet to start.

The Red Road Flats have 1312 homes but up to 8000 people lived there at one stage.

During the 80s, some were converted for student accommodation and recently, they have been used to provide shelter for refugees from places such as Rwanda and Kosovo.

Publication date 20/02/08

Posted by: KB, Glasgow on 11:02am Wed 20 Feb 08
Send in the RAF!
Posted by: jim, Glasgow on 11:15am Wed 20 Feb 08
I used to be postman in them in early 80s And when the lifts brokedown!
Posted by: Brad, Glasgow on 1:34pm Wed 20 Feb 08
Then you became an athlete!
Posted by: Ian, Glasgow on 4:46pm Wed 20 Feb 08
Strange as it may seem, I think it will be a shame to see them come down. They've been towering over North Glasgow since ever I remember and they've become a bit of an icon.

That said, I don't live in the area and I'm sure others can't wait for them to go
Posted by: uncle ben, glasgow on 5:07pm Wed 20 Feb 08
Spare a thought to the many who were employed erecting these buildings. The risks of working with asbestos were not appreciated by workers and sadly, many are now no longer with us.
Posted by: anni, London on 5:29pm Wed 20 Feb 08
My neighbour was one of the men who worked on those flats long before many of us where born. I remember him mentioning when the asbestos was publicised a few years ago that he seemed to have got off lightly, he was then already over 70yrs old, I wonder what he would think about this news.
Posted by: Murdo Ritchie, Parkhead, Glasgow on 8:32pm Wed 20 Feb 08
THE MOST SOLID STRUCTURES IN GLASGOW

These are probably the single most solid structures ever built in Glasgow. They were designed so that the internal structures could be re-designed.

The asbestos has got to come out separately from the demolition. Perhaps, with a little bit of thought the remaining structures could and should be re-designed.

It's a pity that stigmatisation of the tower blocks stops many seeing just how much of a structural asset exists.
Posted by: leesome, Glasgow on 1:10pm Thu 21 Feb 08
You sure all that swaying in the wind would not cause a structural weakness mid-point?
Posted by: LAWFUL, Glasgow on 12:25am Fri 22 Feb 08
When the tenants of the Red Road Flats are rehoused, make sure our own people are given the new flats.

Decant the asylum seekers and refugees to Glasgow’s slums. Better still, decant them back to their own country.
Posted by: BazC, Glasgow on 8:26am Fri 22 Feb 08
Its a disgrace that these buildings are coming down. They are Glasgow landmarks - every bit as much a part of the history of the city as the old tenements do. What is the GHA's obsession with demolishing everything multi-storey? Some of us don't want to live in a bungalow with a garden! Its time serious consideration was put into renovation of these blocks, as well as the ones at Sighthill, Ibrox, Gorbals, etc, etc which are structurally sound and if managed properly can offer a positive social housing solution. They wouldn't need to come down at all if it weren't for the GHA's sustained campaign of underinvestment and neglect.
Posted by: uncle ben, glasgow on 3:06pm Fri 22 Feb 08
Glasgow is a welcoming city LAWFUL and your comments verge on being unlawful.
These people are lawfully in our country, don't believe all the gutter press you seem to have so eagerly digested.
Posted by: Brad, Glasgow on 10:30am Mon 25 Feb 08
And the city makes good money out of having them, uncle ben.
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